The Legacy of "King Cotton"

Fields along the Mississippi River Delta once gleamed white in the autumn with acre upon acre of cotton ready to be picked.

But to see the decline of a cash crop once nicknamed "King Cotton" one need look no further than the 300 acres that Michael Shelton farms in Clarksdale, Mississippi, about 75 miles down river from Memphis.

24 Oct 2015. Clarksdale, UNITED STATES. Reuters/Brian Snyder

The fields were recently cleared of wheat and soybeans, and just one long row of cotton, which Shelton, 65, said he planted "for memory."

"I wanted to say I planted cotton every year," said Shelton whose property includes the 40 acres his ancestors acquired in the late 19th century, not long after the abolition of slavery.

When asked about slavery, Shelton said: “No, we don’t talk about it. I remind my daughters the times haven’t been like this always. We haven’t always been free. I’m sure they understand it and know it."

With cotton prices near their lowest in six years, Shelton is far from alone in cutting back on the crop.

28 Oct 2015. Adrian, UNITED STATES. Reuters/Brian Snyder

U.S. farmers this year planted the fewest acres of cotton since 1983, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. In the southern states of Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama and Arkansas, once the heart of cotton country, growers expect to harvest some of their smallest crops since the year after the U.S. Civil War ended.

It's not just low prices driving down cotton planting. This year marks the first the U.S. cotton farmers are getting by without a subsidy program that had long been the subject of a trade dispute between Washington and Brazil.

For Shelton, the only one of eight siblings to go into farming, that is just the latest in a long line of hits his business has taken.

"One thing I've found lately is it's become an expensive business," Shelton said.

22 Oct 2015. Fort Payne, UNITED STATES. Reuters/Brian Snyder

The derelict WB Davis Hosiery Mill stands beside the railroad tracks.

Many of the United States' remaining 18,000 cotton farms - a number that's fallen by half in less than 20 years - see themselves on the losing end of that long skirmish at the World Trade Organization.

Washington paid $300 million to Brazil to settle the subsidy squabble and agreed to stop subsidy payment programs to cotton farms. The farm law that passed last year phased out payments to farmers of many crops, leaving growers more exposed to market conditions.

U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Nutrition described the shift as "not your father's farm bill."

22 Oct 2015. Fort Payne, UNITED STATES. Reuters/Brian Snyder

"The political climate has changed, that's hurt cotton's standing," said John Robinson, an agricultural economist with Texas A&M University. "The old world doesn't exist. That's gone with the wind."

It has left some farmers feeling exposed to low prices and the potential of rising debt levels, ultimately raising the prospect of further exodus from the fibre in areas where growers can grow food crops such as corn, wheat and soybeans.

23 Oct 2015. Florence, UNITED STATES. Reuters/Brian Snyder

Cotton has struggled to recover demand lost amid price spikes in the last decade, which drove consumers towards clothes made of other fibres, such as polyester and nylon.

Falling demand has also taken a toll, with global consumption down 9 percent from a peak of 122.5 million bales nine years ago.

Some cotton farmers have coped with the long slide in prices by planting ever more acres, following the lead of their Midwestern counterparts who plant corn and wheat, and eke out slightly more profit from larger-scale operations.

Ronnie Lee, of Dawson, Georgia, has taken the large-scale route. Since starting out farming 35 acres in 1987, he and now his three sons have steadily grown their operation to 30 times the size of Shelton's.

27 Oct 2015. Bronwood, United States. Reuters/Brian Snyder

Reese Foster, 19, works for the Lee farm when he is not attending college.

Today they plant some 9,000 acres of owned and leased land, as well as picking cotton for others with their three $600,000 mechanical pickers, operating a crop-dusting service and running a gin that will pack as many as 90,000 bales of cotton this year.

Despite the size, Lee emphasises that his business is still a family farm.

"We're a true family farming operation," he said during a rare lunch break on a recent rainy afternoon. "Why do I have to be small to be a family operation? A small guy today can't survive."

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Slideshow

25 Oct 2015. Moundville, UNITED STATES. Reuters/Brian Snyder

Trees surround an abandoned and decaying tenant farmer's house.

25 Oct 2015. Moundville, UNITED STATES. Reuters/Brian Snyder

Bricks tumble out of the fireplace inside an abandoned house.

25 Oct 2015. Moundville, UNITED STATES. Reuters/Brian Snyder

"KKK" and a swastika are painted on an timber house.

24 Oct 2015. Leland, UNITED STATES. Reuters/Brian Snyder

In June 1965 African-American workers from the nearby Andrew Planation went on strike and took refuge in what came to be known as Strike City, where they were joined by workers from other plantations.

25 Oct 2015. Boligee, UNITED STATES. Reuters/Brian Snyder

Trees frame the former plantation house known as Boligee Hill or Myrtle Hill, built in 1840 by John David Means. According to the National Register of Historic places Means owned 110 slaves in 1850.

26 Oct 2015. Shorter, UNITED STATES. Reuters/Brian Snyder

Cotton farmer Shep Morris holds a photograph of the Walker Plantation house, which was owned by his wife's ancestors.

24 Oct 2015. Tunica, UNITED STATES. Reuters/Brian Snyder

Farm worker Leon Strickland picked cotton by hand as a child and has worked for the same family of farmers since 1965.

23 Oct 2015. Florence, UNITED STATES. Reuters/Brian Blanco

Dogs run up a dirt track.

26 Oct 2015. Shorter, UNITED STATES. Reuters/Brian Snyder

A worker waits for a bale of cotton to emerge from the gin at the farmer-owned Milstead Farm Group gin.

22 Oct 2015. Fort Payne, UNITED STATES. Reuters/Brian Snyder

Shankel's Hosiery is one of the few remaining producers of socks in Fort Payne, a town which was once known as the "Sock Capital of the World." Owner Alan Shankel says "We haven’t made money in seven years, we just break even."

28 Oct 2015. Swainsboro, UNITED STATES. Reuters/Brian Snyder

A woman walks away from a mural celebrating the time when the town's name was changed from Paris back to Swainsboro.

27 Oct 2015. Dawson, UNITED STATES. Reuters/Brian Snyder

Al Breedlove (2nd left) and his son Jeremy manage 3,700 acres of farmland, about 30% of which they own. This year they planted about 410 acres of cotton.

25 Oct 2015. Greenwood, UNITED STATES. Reuters/Brian Snyder

A sign marks the Cotton Row Club in Greenwood. The town was once considered by some as the "Cotton Capital of the World".